Owner held, faces culpable homicide charge

Ludhiana: Two days after the collapse of multistorey polybag manufacturing factory at Mustak Ganj chowk which claimed the lives of 13 persons, the police today arrested factory owner Inderjeet Singh Gola.

Stringent IPC section has also been added to the already registered FIR. Earlier, the police had booked the factoru owner under Section 304 A IPC(causing death due to negligence), a bailable offence. Now, they have converted it to Section 304 IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), which is a non-bailable offence.

Police Commissioner RN Dhoke said the earlier case was registered on the basis of preliminary reports, but after the probe team found illegalities in the construction of the multistorey building, a stringent section had been imposed.

Meanwhile, the rescue operation has slowed down due to the presence of heavy iron bars and cemented blocks. Three firemen are yet to be traced. An official said: “So far only 30 per cent rubble has been cleared. The iron bars and cemented blocks are being broken manually by the rescue team to allow the JCB machines to clear debris.”

Two mobile phones were recovered from the debris today. It is not yet clear who owned them.

Factory record summoned

VK Meena, Divisional Commissioner, Patiala, who is heading the probe committee, on Wednesday visited the site and met the injured at hospital. He asked the MC to provide the record of property tax, building plan, sewerage and water supply documents pertaining to the factory. He has also sought its allotment letter and NOCs, if taken from the PPCB and the Fire Department. Meena said samples of the collapsed building would be sent to forensic lab to know about the cause of the blast and the presence of any illegal chemicals.

Funds for firemen uniforms

Chandigarh: Perturbed at the sight of firefighters using wet sacks and scarves on their heads in the rescue operation, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ordered immediate release of funds for new uniforms. He also asked Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu to assess if the personnel could be covered under fire insurance schemes.